thing I love (and hate) about China...

I'm sure this will get added to over the next few months...

Asking for directions:
I was in town looking for a specific area (where beauty treatments are done on the street).  I couldn't remember where exactly it was so I called my Chinese friend and stopped at a newspaper kiosk to ask for directions.  My friend spoke to the shop lady on the phone and then the lady locked up her kiosk and took me to the place, realizing I couldn't understand the directions she was giving me.

Eating in public:
Growing up we were often told to 'close your mouth whilst you are eating;.  I don't think the Chinese are told this.  It's quite disconcerting to sit in a restaurant (or with local colleagues at work) and to hear lips smacking all around you.

Smoking in restaurants:
The smoking in public places ban which seems to be in effect in most of the western world definitely has not hit China.  Every time I come home from a night out with smokey hair and clothes I'm reminded of how much I appreciate this law.

Tuk Tuk drivers:
One of the easiest way to get around is to use the '3-wheeled vehicles' (tuk tuks).  One of the things I like about them is that the drivers, who are often slightly disabled, are kept in employment and don't have to live off handouts.  I came home from the supermarket in one recently and when I got out and unloaded all my bags at the side of the road, the driver stayed around until I'd moved all my bags inside the secure compound where I live.  Then she drove off.  I thought it was nice that she was ensuring none of my stuff would get robbed.

Locals' intrigue of foreigners:
Nanning is not proficient in English speakers.  The people that do speak English are generally high school or university students, or young kids who obviously attend schools like mine.  Parents are often trying to get these kids to 'say hello to the foreigner' (this is said in Chinese, which by now I understand).  The older generation generally doesn't know any English, but this doesn't stop them from wanting to talk to us.  I've sat at a bus stop before and a lady came to sit next to me.  After a few minutes (of looking at me but not saying anything) she got up to leave.  I think she just wanted to sit with a foreigner!  There's also a man who runs a food shop near my house and whenever I pass it on the way to the bus he shouts out "I love you".  I think that's the only English he knows and he's not partial to women or men as I've heard him do it to my male friends too.

Toilet training the kids:
The 'asian' toilets involve you squatting down.  Little kids are taught this from a young age and their clothes accommodate this.  They have trousers which have a slit in the bum and whenever they need to 'go' they squat down and the trousers open up.  This is done anywhere, so it's not unusual to see a kid on the side of the road, with the parent hovering nearby.

more about life in Nanning

Winter here is pretty cold.  On paper it doesn't look that bad (well above zero anyway) but it's damp and there is no heating inside so it always feels very chilly.  An example of this is our school.  People (students and staff alike) wear coats and hats inside.  Sometimes it even feels warmer outside than inside!

Our school is a new set up, freshly painted, new interactive white boards etc. and then we find a family of rats running around the place!  The reaction to this has been quite blasé - basically they just ignore it.

Nanning has a handful of clubs that are popular with both the Chinese and the foreigners in town.  I went along to one and was surprised to see it was nothing like any club I've been too before.  People sit around tables and there is a show on stage, a mix of cabaret, circus acts (with dogs as the animals) and singing.  After the show the stage is cleared and the music starts, for people to dance.

Another club here has a live jazz band.  This is a mix of western and Chinese musicians and the music is a combination of both.  It's one of the few places we've encountered that has live music (not counting the numerous KTV - karaoke - bars).